SSS Monday Challenge - Ray of Sunshine

Hi Everyone! I'm joining in the fun again this week for the SSS Monday Challenge. I love this challenge and have played several weeks in a row. I find that I'm using a lot more of my art supplies and I get such a thrill out of seeing what the new challenge is for the week. I have to say this week's challenge pushed me to new limits. The showcase is on Dina Wakley products and we were encouraged to use them if we had them. The theme is "Ray of Sunshine", which I loved! I really struggled with this one, but I kept pushing forward instead of giving up. If you watch any of Dina's videos on YouTube, she is so encouraging so I continued to push myself. My first creation was a bomb, and I mean a real stinker. It was just awful, so I pulled up the ole boot straps and tried again. My next attempt was much better and even though I struggled with painting the bird, I still think it came out okay. If you'd like to join in the fun, click the SSS icon below.

Here is my Ray of Sunshine tag using Dina Wakley products:

I covered a tag with gesso and let that completely dry. I also covered a piece of 8.5"x11" cardstock with gesso as well. I used the piece of cardstock with gesso to stamp my images on so they would be ready to paint with Dina's acrylic paints.

I cut a piece of the cardstock covered with gesso the same size as one of the birds from Dina Wakley's Scribbly Birds On Branches stamp set and stamped the image using my Misti. The Misti helps me to get an image stamped out right, without worrying if I have applied enough ink to get a fully stamped image because I can continue to re-ink the stamp until I'm happy with it.

I then stamped two flowers from Dina Wakley's Scribbly Flowers stamp set using my Misti again. Notice I didn't wait for the ink to dry on one of the images. No worries though, I'm painting the images and cutting the flower apart from the stem, so it was okay.

This is the point at which things got a little ugly because I really struggled painting the bird. I tried to use soft dry brush strokes and just wasn't getting the effect I wanted but I stuck with it and kept going. I didn't worry about covering some of the scribbly lines on the bird because I could add them back in with a black Stabilo pencil. I used Dina's Heavy Body Acrylic Paints in Sky, Lapis and White to paint the bird.

Here you can see where I added the scribbly lines back onto the bird after I was finished painting it. I did end up adding more white paint for shading as I didn't think there were enough shadows of light but you will see that on my finished tag.

For the flower images, I put a little paint on my craft mat and spritzed it with water to loosen the paint for the petals. This almost gives it a water colored effect. I added shading to the leaves later.

I used the dry brush technique on the tag which is a technique using a completely dry brush. You don't dip the brush in water to clean it and I didn't change brushes in between colors. I went from one color to the other with the same brush letting the colors blend in together to make soft lines of shading on the tag. The colors I used were Tangerine, Lemon and Magenta. I also added some stenciling and stamping to add depth and interest with the Dina Wakley Plastic Canvas stencil and a couple of stamps from her Textures stamp set. I also added little black circles by using the cap of a Ranger Distress Ink spray bottle dipped in Dina's Black acrylic paint mixed with water.  I also wanted to create a focal point where the bird would sit, so I tore small strips of an old book page and adhered them to the tag with Ranger Multi Medium - Matte. Later I stamped the old book page strips with a musical note stamp from Prima.

After I finished adhering all the strips of book pages to the tag and allowing them to completely dry, I stamped some leaves onto the focal point using one of the stamps from the Dylusions Further Around the Edge stamp set and began painting in the leaves.

I decided I wanted more stenciling in a lighter color so I dabbed on Dina's Daisies stencil with Lemon acrylic paint.

After stamping my book pages with a musical note stamp it was time to place all my pieces on the tag. I then added the verse that I simply printed onto manila cardstock with my laser printer and brushed the edges of the tag with Dina Wakley Night acrylic paint to allow the focal point of the tag to pop. I added a little shading to the leaves to give them dimension and I was finished with my project.

Here again is my completed tag.

I hope you enjoyed seeing a little of the process I went through to create this tag. I'm pleased with the way it came out and love the beautiful vibrant colors. Thanks for stopping by!